Dipcadi viride

Dipcadi viride, the dainty green bells, is a bulbous perennial reaching 1, 2 m in height. The bulb reaches 6 cm in diameter. The hairless, grey-green leaves are folded, tapering to their tips. The bulbs and leaves are eaten as culinary herbs.

The flowers grow in a long, slender raceme drooping at its tip. The inflorescence is secund, i.e. all open flowers face in the same direction. The yellowish beige to red and green flowers have tails on their outer tepals.

The plant occurs widespread in grassland in South Africa, recorded in all nine provinces. It is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century.

Dipcadi is a genus of bulbous plants in the hyacinth family, occurring in Africa, India and around the Mediterranean (Pooley, 1998; http://redlist.sanbi.org).